Beadle's New York Dime Library, No. 193 — page 9: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

' the “‘ How did you know that?” ‘‘Never mind. I heard it.” ‘Yes, itis true. He was at the back door and was stabbetl by a man who escaped with a woman. He fell dead instantly, and the man ot off.” ‘‘But not the woman,” ‘‘Yes she did. The same man came out of the darkness on another of my officers, and knocked him senseless, just as he laid bands on her. But the house wasempty. Nota soul to be found in it, and no one has ever seen Made- r-piselle Camille Lenormand since, though be- ‘ore that she was a famous woman for the way which she told people all ey had ever done since they were born.” Gabriel had heard enough and turned away from Fouche, whom he bated cordially in com- mon with most people at the court. He saw that the wily Duke of Otranto was on a wrong scent. He had confounded Casse Tete with the man who stabbed the police officer. This argued that the two men must have resembled each other ia figure. Casse Tete and the unknown man were both tall and thin; another indication pointing to the identity of The Man in Red. The news raised all his old curio ity to the fever heat and he began to wish he had found | out more than he did when he was at Fontaine- eau. This again brought Madame de St. Jean to his mindand he thought he would find out some more about her. He knew that his wife who had been fond of the old lady, kept up correspondence with her and he asked her carelessly one day whether she had heard from the marquise recently. Inez answered: ‘*Certainly. Only last week.” ** And where is she?” ‘* At the palace of Foutainebleau. ‘You know she received a pension soon after we wentaway, through the — offices of the Empress Jose- phine. She is there yet.” Gabriel said nothing more at the time, but next day he obtained leave of absence from palace, rode over to Fontainebleau and paid a visit to the Baron de Belleville, who re- peived his ancient comrade with a rapturous welcome asa relief to the ennui he was suffer- ing. Gabriel dinad with the baron and after din- ner brought up the subject of the old palaces of France, of the medieval ways of building and _ finally of secret passages. ‘*Do you know, my dear baron,” he said at last, ‘‘ that I am convinced there is more than ong secret passage in this old place?” abe baron looked at him knowingly. ** Ah, bave you found that out?” ‘“Yes. Did you know it?’ The baron tooka pinch of snuff. ‘* The witness declines to criminate himself.” ‘‘That means that you do kuow it?” ‘*T have not said so.” ‘* But there are secret passages in this palace, are there not?” ‘*T have no doubt of #.” “Do you know the whereabouts of any?’ The baron was silent, ‘“‘lam sure you do. Now, my dear baron, these ought to be known to the em- sap of whom you are a sworn and paid of- er, **T don’t see that.” “I will convince you.” **In what manner?” “Easily. You admit that the emperor is the legal sovereign of France, crowned by his Holi- ness, the Pope, chosen by the unanimous vote of the people of France.” **Not quite. There were twenty-five hun- dred caaie the boxes.” are oe “Yes. To about f.ur million ayes. I know you area Royalist at heart—” ‘* No, no,” interrupted the baron in alarm. ‘“] never said so. Good heavens! You don’t mean to denounce me; you, my friend.” ‘*Calm yourself, 1 have no such idea; but thisI say: If the enemies of the State make use of their knowledge of the secret pa at Fontainebleau to annoy his majesty andl per- to lay plots to assassinate him—” ‘There never was such a plot,” cried the baron, hastily. ‘Never! I have always said that assassination is a mistake. l the emperor to-morrow and the king would never be able to return alive.” " Ab, you admit it, then.” I admit nothing, count. What are you talking of? Do you come to dine at my table th my on and frighten me to Tbe poor baron was pale and his lips trembled as he spoke. Gabriel pursued him mercilessly. ‘*T do not wish to frighten you, but I do wish and demand that if you have any knowledge of the secret passages in the palace of Fontaine- bleau, you will take me to them end show me what they are, in the name of the emperor.” The baron looked at hiw in tive and palpable dismay. His easy-going nature, sunk n sloth and good living, was no match for the firm resolute soldier. The Man in Red. ‘‘ What do you mean?” he gasped at last. ‘‘T mean that I bave come here and I want you to tell me of the secret passages in this palace. If you decline, I must find them out myself, and when I have done so, I shall report them to the emperor.” The baron clasped his hands. ‘‘For heaven’s sake anything but that, I will tell you, if you will only promise not to let the emperor know anything about it. I swear to you that there is no conspiracy afoot. These passages have not been used for over a year past and then they-had not been inhabited since the conspiracy of Cadondal and the In- fernal Machine.” ‘‘ Then they were used then?” ‘My friend, that is all past and gone. It cost the lives of seventeen men and nearly a hundred were sent to Cayenne. I was not in that plot. I begged them not to try the In- fernal Machine. I told them that the ipo would recoil on their own heads. ‘It did. Only one man escaped alive that the world thinks dead.” ‘* And who was that?” “Do not ask me. The honor of a lady is bound up in it, count. As a neni I im- plore you not to ask me. here. I will show you the secret ges, but you must promise not to reveal them to any one else.” ‘“Why not, baron?’ ‘* Because, if he knew to what use they had been turned and found out that I had known them all these years, I should be in danger, not from him, but from Fouche.” ‘* And if I promise, baron, not to reveal to any one how I found out these passages? If I make up a story of finding them out accidentally, whet then? Remember that I have made up my mind they sball never again be used to the re of the emperor, and that they shall secret no longer. If you hesitate, I shall think that you meditate fresh plots, and my duty will oblige me to denounce you at once.” The baron clasped him by the arm. ‘For heaven’s sake do not denounce me! I swear to you that they shall never be used again if you will weep the secret.” “Very well. I hold you to your honor as a gentleman to inform me if any one ever at- tempts so to use them. All I want is to be secure.” The baron drew a long breath. ‘‘That I promise readily. They never shall be 50 used. Come with me and I will show you. CHAPTER XI, THE SECRET PASSAGES, Tuery left the apartments of the baron, and Gabriel led the way to the part of the palace where The Man in Red had first appeared to the emperor. Sp: aonuh motiend Sbas-he. Maghespineingsame yo count no at he ke an cama and behind him, as if afnid to be seen by some one, ‘* What is the matter, baron?” he asked. “I don’t wish to be seen. If you happen to see Madame de St. Jean, | implore you to give up the expedition for the day. She has sharp eyes.” ‘* Then she knows of the es?’ “Certainly, and if it gets out that [ have be- trayed them—” ‘Well, baron?” **T shall be despised, ostracised by my old friends. You don’t know them, count. It is not the taking office they mind. The best of them have done that. lt is the letting out of the secrets of a lot of old women. And then, too, I have reasons for wishing not to be on bad terms with Madame la Marquise.” Gabriel saw that the old gentleman’s face was slightly redder than usual. **T understand,” be said, ‘‘ you and the mar- quise are possibly about to marry.” ** And why not, my friend?’ ‘‘There is no reason, On the ug nf I think it an excellent arrangement. But here we are, and no one has seen us.” Then they slipped in at a small door to which the baron bad a key, and found them- selves alone in the gloomy corridors of the old ce of Fontainebleau. The baron led the way to the ante-chamber, where Gabriel had augured the existence of a angry door, and touched a spring, low down in the wainscoting, showing a door that opened into the corridor outside, an ordinary panel, and it turned two ways, on a pivot in the midst thereof. ‘* These doors,” said the baron, ‘* you will find | there is more i SS SS i | a rr a ! | —, passed into the dark corridor where Casse Tete had heard the laugh, and the baron continued: ‘*To enter a room from a corridor is just the opposite. Feel along the molding of a wall panel, with your thumb at the hight of the eye, and press. When you come to the right place, it yields.” | Then he went on and showed Gabriel the en- trance to several rooms, in suits which bad no visible communication, save with each other and anterooms. When he had done, the young man observed quietly: ; ‘‘That is all very well, baron, but I see it re- uires a good deal of practice to master these, s the secret a common property to the gentle- men of the old court?” The baron smiled. ‘Francis I. and Louis XIII. kept it to them- selves, but when the Great Louis began to in- dulge in a dozen ladies at a time, the secret be- came no longer a secret at court. The ladies had other lovers, for even a king is not proof against French infidelity, and by the time of Louis the Martyr it was a privilege of the best families. No one was admitted to the secret who could not trace a noble genealogy at least as far as Henry IV., and they had a 2 ge) secret ritual, like the Masons. But that all over now. The secret is not what it was.” ‘‘ And were you sworn to secrecy?” The baron ay: “Well, yes; but the Grand Master is dead, the order broken up, and we have not held a chapter since the days of 1793. Technically I am wrong to tell you what I have, but there is no one who can reproach me,” ‘‘ And were ladies admitted to the secret?” ‘Decidedly, my friend. Women can keep a secret of that sort better even than men; for it is their interest to do it.” ‘‘ Very well, baron. And now for the pas- sages we spoke of.” he baron affected to be mystified. ‘The passages! I have shown them.” ‘“‘Oh, no. These are only doo:sin the thick- ness of a wall, These are not at all in the nature of passages.” ‘“ These are all that I know of.” ‘‘] am sorry to ask you to taX your memory, baron; but there is at least one passage in this palace that leads out under the grounds, and possibly extends even into the forest itself.” The n looked obstinate. ‘*T know of none.” “Very well, baron. Then you compel me to report to his majesty that I have made a dis- covery, and to ask him to send down some of the Imperial architects to examine the building. I think, with the aid of a few workmen, they will manage to dig out some of these rat-holes,” The baron looked at his wits’ end, and present- ly said, in a deprecatory way: ‘*Do not te too hard on me. You are a gen- tleman. Suppose that a man’s life on the secret, that a poor fellow, whose only crime was loyalty to his king was actually—” ‘* Living bere? I thought so.” ‘1 did not say it. Indeed I did not say it. I implore you, count, to urge me no more till to- morrow. I swear to you, on the honor of a gentleman, tbat I will then show you the way.” “And give your poor friend time to escape? Is that it n? “T did not say it. I asked you only to be enerous, M. le Comte. Your own father, as I ave heard, was noble. You belong to our order. Do not expose to the malice of Fouche a gentleman whose blood is pure as your own, and whose misfortune is that he loves the lilies better than the vulgar tricolor of this Uupataxt court,” | The old baron was surprised into the warmth of genuine feeling, and said what he meant. Gabriel, rather nettled, retorted: ‘Had I known you were a Chouan you might not have oniovet the post rom have so long occupied by the bounty of the emperor, The tricolor vulgar! It bas waved over the triumph of Jena, when tbe lilies were dragred in the mire of Rosbach. Upstart cvurt! For shame, man, when you eat its bread. AO .ne on to this secret passage at once, or I swear, on the honor of a soldier of Jena, Austerlitz and Friedland, that I will ca!l in workmen at once and tear down the walls in search of it,” The baron trembled excessively. “My dear count, my dear friend, do not be . I will take yor there. But me, on the word of a noble, that you will not harm any one you find there. You are armed In its appearance it was and have a hot tem ‘* Yes, I am armed, and I don’t intend to give up my sword, baron. I to su t behind all this than I fancied. in every one of the old roomsof King Francis I, | Whois this man that you have concealed in the ‘You know his ma esty was a great man after the ladies, and had a desire to be able to intro- duce them into his rooms and let them out lains. the base of the room and feel round with your foot wherever you see a carved flower. They are all alike in appearance, and it is only by ex- perience you can find them. As you see, this | he does not attack me, the honor of a soldier. opens in the corridor. Let us go out.” | | palace?” ‘‘@ bave concealed no one; on my soul I swear it. I do not even know if he be actually here. without the knowledge of his chamber- | But there is a “4 If you want to find one of them, touch mother trembling for her son—” in the case, dear count, a ‘*] see, Madame St. Jean?” ' ‘Yes, my friend—” : ‘‘Reassure yourself. I will not harm him if I promise that on the Now lead on.” “SS Ehoo <€om (E@) » ge rt —-?